The big story

For years, the Pacers have been preaching patience as they attempted to shed a slew of bad contracts and bad actors, both of which resulted in bad teams that pushed the once-Pacer-crazy fan base to seek other entertainment options. Last season, at long last, there was a payoff—the Pacers finished 42-24, won their first-round playoff series over Orlando and gave Miami a scare by taking a 2-1 semifinal series lead before eventually falling to the Heat.

Now comes the encore, in which the Pacers must back up what they accomplished last season, this time as one of the favorites to claim a top three seed in the East. They’re well-positioned to do so. In the offseason, they had to shell out in order to keep point guard George Hill (five years, $40 million) and center Roy Hibbert (four years, $56 million), but that means their starting five—with shooting guard Paul George, small forward Danny Granger and power forward David West—returns intact. Those five were a surprisingly rugged and durable group, and were among the best starting fives in the league.

Clearly, though, Indiana was not satisfied with its bench, and the theme of the offseason was upgrading the reserves. They dealt away point guard Darren Collison and defensive guard Dahntay Jones, getting developing center Ian Mahinmi in return. That gives them the legitimate backup center they lacked. They took a chance on former draft bust Gerald Green, who tore up the D-League and played well with the Nets last year (12.9 points per game, 48.1 percent shooting), giving him a three-year, $10.5 million deal. They also signed free-agent point guard D.J. Augustin, more of a natural playmaker than his predecessor Collison. Power forward Tyler Hansbrough is still around, too.

Should Mahinmi continue to get better and Green follow through on what he showed last year, the Pacers’ bench will be significantly better than it was last year, allowing coach Frank Vogel to throw players at opponents in waves. This is a team without a superstar (apologies to Granger and Hibbert on that one) and needs to win with depth and relentless effort. They’re better built to provide that now.

Keep an eye on

If there is a guy with star potential on the roster, it is Paul George, the supremely athletic, talented and 6-8 shooting guard. George is entering his third year, and that is, typically, when a raw prospect begins to cash in on his superior talent. That is the hope with George, who raised his game in several key areas last year—his scoring was bumped up from 7.8 points per game to 12.1, his 3-point shooting hit 38.5 percent after he shot 29.7 percent as a rookie, and he became a better passer and rebounder.

He is already a tremendous finisher at the rim. If he can work in a better midrange game, and make himself as lethal in the post as his size suggests he should be, he will be ready for his close-up.

But that’s where the lineup’s balance might actually work against the Pacers. Who will lose out on shots as George becomes more of a featured player? And might that cause a chemistry problem on a team that counted chemistry as a strength last year? When you have Hibbert inside, plus quasi-stars Granger and West, someone is going to have to put ego aside in order to allow George to blossom with more shot attempts. It’s a delicate proposition for Vogel, but a necessary one for the long-term benefit of the team.

Strategy session

Frank Vogel came into his first full season as the Pacers’ head coach vowing to play, “smash-mouth basketball.” That was effective in some respects, especially when it comes to rebounding, in which the Pacers ranked fourth in the league (43.9 per game). Indiana outrebounded foes by 104 last season, and that helped lead to 1.08 more shots per game than opponents, and 1.62 more free throw attempts.

Still, when it comes to the number of opponents’ free throws, Vogel might want his team to be a little less smash-mouth this year. The Pacers were sixth in the league when it came to free throws allowed, giving up 24.5 per game, and in losing the playoff series to Miami, they gave up 27.0 attempts per game. Of the five teams worse than they were, four ranked in the bottom half of the league in points allowed per 100 possessions (the Pacers were ninth). The Pacers are hoping that the addition of Mahinmi off the bench can help address the situation, but Vogel also needs to impress on his other big men, Hansbrough in particular, that they can be smash-mouth without literally smashing other people’s mouths.

Outside view (from and Eastern Conference scout)

“They established a style, and I think you have to give Frank a lot of credit, for a guy coming in off the lockout without much time to work with this team and just really trying to establish himself, he did a really good job. They’re not all that tricky in what they do, but he will definitely come up with good wrinkles on plays to get different guy shots where they want them. He is very good at reading the way a game is going and reacting and getting defenses off-guard. They’ll go small when they need to, go big when they need to, and they always seem to force you to play their way, to get you out of your comfort zone.”

Inside view (from coach Frank Vogel)

“We know there is a buzz around the team now, and we appreciate that. You can see it and feel it in the community, people come up to me all the time and say we are doing something special. And they’re right. The playoffs last year, it was such a great atmosphere and now we are looking to pick up where we left off. … We have everybody back. You look at teams that go to conference finals, got to The Finals, win championships, they are not usually pieced together. They have a core that has been together. We feel like we have that.”

Our view

The depth and balance that this team has established will keep it in the mix when it comes to the top seeds in the Eastern Conference. They can’t hang with the Heat, of course, but with Derrick Rose injured in Chicago, the Pacers are the favorites in the Central Division. The only question is whether they can beat out the revamped and experienced Celtics for the second spot in the conference and the mantle of Heat-challenger. Both Boston and Indiana have completely reshaped their benches, and which team did a better job with that—and which stays generally healthier—will probably come in at No. 2.